Help with my garden and house near Angouleme, France

  • Favourited 91 times
  • Last activity: 28 Jul 2023

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: No minimum

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

Details

  • Description

    Description

    I am a young at heart, 72 year old male retired teacher. I live in a large house on the edge of a small French town in the Dordogne. There are daily buses to the well know cities of Perigueux and Angouleme . There is a main TGV station at Angouleme, with direct fast trains to Paris. I live alone, but am joined often by my "girlfriend" who is still working and living in London, I have a good circle of friends, English, French and Dutch. Despite my French being not as good as it should be (! ), I have been invited to join a French Committee who look after a 12th century church and some troglodyte caves.
    Although I am retired, I am very active and sociable. I help a number of my friends to maintain their gardens, and as a result of this, I never get around to finishing and maintaining my own house and garden, hence the idea of inviting two work aways to inspire me onwards.
    The top floor of the house, where you would stay, has three bedrooms and a private bathroom.
    I am afraid I not much of a cook. I have several friends who make sure that my diet Is balanced. I do things like cut people's grass in exchange for fish and chips !
    I enjoy beer and wine, and love to be cooked for. Happy to do the washing up afterwards ....
    Mareuil is about 2 hours north of Bordeaux and 1hour 15 minutes from Bergerac Airport. Despite being a quiet rural French town, it has all the amenities and quite a lot of social life, especially amongst the English.
    I do not smoke and do not wish for smokers to accept this invitation.
    I have two cats to keep me company. Cat lovers appreciated.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Gardening
    General Maintenance
  • Help

    Help

    The garden is fairly large and well laid out but is neglected, especially the vegetable patch, which would be great to develop. The soil is fantastic.
    The house maintenance would be mostly painting.
    I would hope that most of the time we would work as a team
    I think that an interest in cooking would help us all survive
    I have never embarked on this project before so I am not sure at this stage how much information is required, but I would be happy to send pictures etc to anyone who is interested.
    Thankyou, Geoff

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent
    French: Fluent

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    The house is on three storeys .My bedroom and bathroom are on the ground floor. The volunteers bedrooms are on the top floor. There is a private bathroom, and use of a living room with French and English TV.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    The bus goes from the Chateau to Angouleme and Perigueux daily.
    There are many picturesque villages but no transport to them. I would be happy to private transport where necessary. The same would apply to getting to and from music events.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 697197679129

Feedback (5)



Photos

Feedback